The Hustler
by devianttart
Summary: On a sleepless night, Elizabeth indulges in a game.


On a sleepless night, Elizabeth indulges in a game.

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Icy. That was what they called her. _One ball, side pocket. _Elizabeth Weir knew what many people thought of her. They thought she was cold and restrained. _Three ball, corner pocket._ There was not much she could do to dissuade them of this belief. One of the perils of leadership was loneliness. She was in charge here. While she was friendly with everybody, she just could not stand around and gossip with staff. She had to maintain a level of distance. _Five ball, side pocket._

That was one of the reasons that no one on Atlantis knew of Elizabeth's hidden talent. Yes, Dr. Weir was an excellent negotiator, a skilled diplomat, and proficient in several languages. But Elizabeth was also a damn fine pool player. _Eight ball, corner pocket._

The pool table had come back with them after their recent sojourn to Earth. She had requested, she had requisitioned, and finally she had flat out begged. "For team morale," she had said. People needed more fun things to do on their downtime. And, oh my, the table they got was sweet. High polished cherry wood with a lush forest green surface.

Elizabeth loved this table. It had already been used pretty hard since arrival but the the high polished sheen was still unmarred. The sound that occurred when the balls collided was like music. And the burst of color that erupted from a good clean break was like magic.

Elizabeth cleared the table once more. _Icy,_ she thought. Her passions were there; she had just learned to lock them down in a business setting. And now she found herself in a 24 hour a day business setting. She needed these nights in the game room. She was too wired to sleep tonight. She was thinking about the missing Lt. Ford. When Elizabeth started working in the world of foreign relations, it had not occurred to her that so many of her decisions would lead people to their deaths. And yet, here she was. She kept a private, handwritten list of the names of the dead and missing. Sometimes she read over the list, trying to remember details, trying to pay them tribute. She missed Aidan. She had always liked his sense of humor and his upbeat manner. Elizabeth really hoped he would be found soon.

She shook her head sharply, trying to drive away her dark thoughts. _Focus on the game. _She was toying with the idea of setting up a pool tournament. For now, she was hesitant to play against any of her subordinates. She always won. Elizabeth remembered with glee the absolute **fleecing **she had delivered a certain Dr. Daniel Jackson before she had departed to Atlantis the first time. _Sore loser,_ she thought, smirking. She had won a pretty penny off of him. John Sheppard had been overheard bragging that he was quite the "Fast Eddie." Elizabeth longed to try him. After all, she had seen that movie too, and felt pretty confident that the title was hers.

_Hmm, _she wondered. _What kind of action could there be?_ Betting money was out because money was useless on Atlantis. Food rations just seemed mean. Elizabeth stretched upwards, feeling her back muscles twinge. An impromptu barter system has sprung up in the city. Maybe she could bet a massage? The idea of John Sheppard giving her a foot massage made Elizabeth smile. It was a slow secret smile. Most people would not believe that she had that smile in her.

_Icy, _she thought again. It did bother her, but she had gotten used to it. There had only been a few people who had managed to get past her reserve.

Elizabeth decided to practice some fancier shots. Jump shots, complicated bank shots, some random moves. Parlor tricks that Simon had taught her. At the thought of Simon, she scratched. Oh, she missed that man. Simon knew her. He would never describe her as "icy." Simon had made her happy. Leaving him had been the hardest choice she had ever made. It was just that the Atlantis expedition was so big! So much was riding on this project; she did not know how to say no when asked to go with it. And, truthfully, she did not want to say no. She wanted Atlantis to be hers. When she had made it back to Atlantis, she had assumed that Simon would share her enthusiasm. Selfish, she realized now. She had been selfish and arrogant to assume that he had been pining for her for a year, like some damsel in a folk song.

She took a deep sigh and leaned on her cue stick. She had loved to play pool with Simon. They would ruthlessly bark at each other, until someone triumphed…and then…sometimes…they found a different use for the table.

Smiling at her memories, Elizabeth racked the balls again. _One more game,_ she thought. _Maybe then I can sleep._

Ooooooooooooooooo

Unseen and unnoticed, John Sheppard watched from the observation deck. He admired the skill with which she moved around the table. _Like a dancer, _he mused. John had had no idea that Elizabeth played let alone that she was so skilled. Now he understood why the table had shown up on the requisition list.

John watched Elizabeth make a spectacular break, sinking five balls at once. _Damn,_ he thought. _She is good!

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Fin

Thanks to the "soyouwanna" website for help. I know nothing about pool.


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